Contracts

There are many issues to consider when booking a freelance trainer, whether through Freelance Training Services or not. The following are some of the areas that a contract with Freelance Training Services Ltd will cover, and which you would want to be clear on when booking any freelance trainer directly:

• Copyright & intellectual property
• Commercial sensitivity
• Self employment and IR35
• Expenses
• Quality standards
• Illness & cancellation
• Invoicing

Copyright & intellectual property

Copyright concerns the course materials, including structure and layout

Intellectual property concerns the use of any models, frameworks and ideas originated by the trainer or originated by the client and provided to the trainer

For obvious reasons, the trainer will generally want to retain copyright of his/her course. It is usual for the trainer to grant a non-exclusive licence to the client to use the relevant material for the purposes of the specific training event. Future use of the material would then need to be agreed as a separate issue

You may also want to include a statement that suggests that you will retain the rights to material supplied to the trainer if relevant (back to top)

Commercial sensitivity

It would be usual for a formal contract to include a sentence along the following lines:

“Each party shall keep confidential and shall not disclose to any third party any confidential information of the other party which has been disclosed whilst undertaking the contract, nor use confidential information for any purpose other than the performance of this agreement”

The trainer may also be required to ensure that everyone is aware of and complies with these obligations (back to top)

Self employment and IR35

It is usual for a contract with a trainer to state that it is not a contract of employment, and that the trainer is engaged as a self-employed individual responsible for the payment of income tax, VAT, National Insurance contributions and all other taxes

IR35 is the government legislation concerned with tax avoidance through the status of self-employment

Put simply, any consultant/contractor, working on a contract basis via their own Limited Service Companies, who fails the "self employed" criterion may therefore deemed to be in "disguised employment". They are therefore ineligible to use the benefits associated by working via a limited company and will have to pay Schedule E income tax and Class 1 NI on the entire amount of money (less allowable expenses being paid to the Limited company for their services). This will be regardless of any statement about employment within the contract

For most short term training contracts this will not be an issue, but may be of concern if you are employing someone for a longer period or on a regular basis

What matters is the actual relationship and how it operates:

• Is the consultant "part and parcel" of the client organisation?
• Does the consultant have the trappings of business? ie insurance, headed paper, business bank account business cards etc
• Does the consultant use his/her own equipment? (using your overhead projector or flipchart is unlikely to make a difference, but a consultant who uses your computers could be considered to be an employee)
• Can the consultant send somebody else to work in his place (substitution)?
• Does the consultant have control over the work and his/her working hours?
• Does the consultant give a guarantee?
• Is the consultant at financial risk from the work carried out?
• Can the consultant benefit financially from better management of the work?
• Does the consultant undertake lots of different contracts (with different clients) within a year?
• Does the client check work as it is carried out or upon completion of the task? (back to top)

Expenses

It is sensible to establish in advance exactly what you will be billed for separately, and whether this will be at cost. Freelance Training Services quotes trainers out at a daily rate plus expenses (and VAT if applicable)

These might be:

• Travel (Freelance Training Services would advise that mileage allowances and/or class of travel are agreed in advance)
• Accommodation and dinner for the preceding night
• Course handbooks
• Hire/rental of equipment
• Hire/rental of relevant videos or other support material
• For IT courses, courseware and software
• Copyrighted Intellectual Property (eg MBTI)
• Preparation time

Most trainers require the client to book and pay for training facilities where applicable. Some may also require the client to book and pay for accommodation.

It is also good advice to consider what expenses might be involved if a course has to be relocated at short notice (back to top)

Quality Standards

Freelance Training Services will do its best to supply trainers that it considers meet high standards. However, standards can be subjective especially where a service like training is concerned

A few trainers use a “price promise” that says that you don’t pay if not completely satisfied

If you feel that this might be a concern, it is sensible to establish in advance what you consider to be a reasonable level of quality (back to top)

Illness & Cancellation

Since most freelance trainers work by themselves or as the specialist part of a small team, it is advisable to consider what you will do in the event of illness. You may agree that the course can be:

• Run by a mutually acceptable substitute
• Postponed to a mutually acceptable date (back to top)

Invoicing

Finally, you will need to confirm what the invoicing arrangements will be. Payment will mostly be due within 30 working days, but might occasionally be 14 days. Some trainers ask for a partial payment upfront, or an interim payment. Freelance Training Services recommends that any agreement should include:

• details of the address to which the invoice should be sent
• whether it is acceptable in electronic format
• whether VAT is applicable
• what information is required on the invoice (eg purchase order number or project reference)
• the level of any advance payment

Please remember that most of the trainers on the Freelance Training Services database work for themselves. You will be hugely appreciated if you therefore pay your invoices in good time. (back to top)